Politician, businessman, and philanthropist Henry Gabriel Cisneros served as the mayor of his hometown, San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989. He was the first Latino mayor of one of America's top ten most populous cities, and San Antonio's first Latino mayor since 1842.Cisneros also served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (hud) in the Cabinet of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. As hud Secretary, Cisneros was credited with initiating the revitalization of many public housing developments and with formulating policies that contributed to achieving the nation's highest ever rate of home ownership. In his role as the President's chief representative to the cities, Cisneros personally worked in more than two hundred cities spread over all fifty states.As mayor, Cisneros worked to rebuild the city's economic base, attracted high tech industries, increased the level of tourism, and worked to bring more jobs to San Antonio. Before his tenure as mayor, he was elected to three two-year terms on the city council, where he served from 1975 to 1981.Throughout his career in politics and business, Cisneros has been a powerful presence in urban revitalization.

He is also a leading advocate for the Latino community. He has and continues to serve on corporate boards, as well as chairing and serving on several non-profit boards. Cisneros has authored, edited, or collaborated on several books and is in demand as a public speaker. After public office, Cisneros served as President and coo for the Spanish-language network Univision from 1997 to 2000 before forming CityView to create homes priced within the range of average families. He is a partner in the minority-owned investment banking firm of Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., and Chairman of American Triple I.Cisneros co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center's Housing Commission and Immigration Task Force.